Netherlands

M2i - Materials innovation institute is a non-profit research foundation set up by the Dutch government in 2008 to increase and speed up international research and innovation in the field of materials sciences and engineering. Constituted as a Private-Public Partnership with Industry and Academia, M2i acts as a hinge between leading universities and market-shaping industrial enterprises. The mission of M2i is to support industrial partners in innovation and development through academic research in materialsrelated domains. Key to success is an efficient transfer to industry of technology and knowledge generated by research.M2i has been active in this field for more than 15 years (previously as NIMR) having concluded over 50 industrial and academic long term partner-agreements (for research collaborations in the area ofmaterials) in the Netherlands as well as throughout Europe. For its research activities M2i employsmainly PhD students and Post-docs (currently more than 100) who perform their scientific work by using partner university facilities. Their research results are applied in many key technology-intensive markets such as Transportation (aerospace, automotive, maritime), Construction, Materials Production, Energy and Power Systems, Professional and Consumer products – including Micro/Nanoelectronics and Systems - and Medical Devices.

The research agenda of M2i is the result of an intensive cooperation of the Dutch Government with the industrial enterprises and knowledge institutes forming the M2i community, and it focusses on materials development and applications for various market segments. The main technology themes are: 1.Virtual shaping and structural performance; 2. Multi-scale fundamentals of materials; 3. Processing technologies of functional materials; 4. Hybrid and composite materials; 5. Microstructure control during metals processing; 6. Durability; 7. Surfaces, interfaces and thin films; 8. Advanced joining and disassembly; 9. Reliability and predictability of (opto)electronic devices; 10. Metals properties in relation to microstructures.

NWO aims to expand knowledge horizons, provide society with new findings, and enhance the leading position of The Netherlands in the global knowledge economy. NWO is the central Dutch organisation that funds excellent research in all fields of science, and operates on a peer review basis. It is an independent, non-governmental, self-governing funding organisation. Next to research funding, it sets (national research) agendas, stimulates knowledge dissemination to society and business, improves the interaction between scientists and end users, enhances the position of excellent female scientists, improves the international collaboration and reinforces the cooperation between NWO Institutes and universities. The annual expenditure of NWO (incl. its Institutes) is ca M€ 650 and NWO funds over 5,600 research projects at universities and research institutes. NWO falls under the responsibility of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, Science.